Mental Health Barkway Summary

When people think of an “illness” they typically don’t automatically think of mental illness. They think about HIV, cancer, or even a cold or flu. However when it comes to mental illness it is a whole different idea. But is mental illness even real? Addressed in the book, The Myth of Mental Illness (1961), a psychiatrist Thomas Szasz argues that the idea of classifying psychological and emotional difficulties as “illnesses” takes away sense of control. Instead of holding people personally and morally responsible for their actions, he states, doctors attempt to “treat” the person, often with medications. Diagnosing mental illness, on the other hand, argue that mental disorders are as real as physical diseases and diagnosing them allows people

The premises of Thomas Szasz’s book are that ‘mental illness’’ are a myth. He argues mental illness should not be classified as psychological problems as they arise from categorical error. He claims the concept of illness

The psychologists believe that individual’s behaviour is linked with the inner thoughts and self-image. The idea is that due to free will people change often. It is humans’ responsibility on how their well-being and lives carry on. This is because we are capable of striving to achieve the best, self-actualisation desire.

Within this unit I will be showing my past and learnt knowledge of the main forms of mental health problems according to the psychiatric classification system. I will be looking at the strengths, Limitations and alternative frameworks for understanding mental health. I will also demonstrate ways in which mental health problems can and do impact the individual and there social network.

Mental health has been a recurring topic in present society and it is a very large section of health care in general. Health can be termed as an absence of disease, but it really is much more than that and should encompass every facet of the human, mind and body. The WHO defines mental health as a state of well-being in which an individual can function properly and productively, cope with life stressors, and contribute to community. Mental health is dependent on many factors, mainly social, biological, and psychological (WHO). A mental disorder is a condition of alterations

The ‘medical model’ (Beecher, 2009), also called the ‘biomedical model’ (Germov, 2009), basis its beliefs on the theory that there is not a connection between the mind and the body (Sarafino & Smith, 2014) and illness is caused by ‘biological’ (Germov, 2009) factors that can be diagnosed and treated with medications (Germov, 2009). The biomedical model becomes problematic when applied to the treatment of mental health illness due to the cause being widely unknown and so how can mental illness be successfully treated using this model? Social factors that may have a contributory effect or allowance for preventative measures to be implemented are also not taken into consideration with the ‘medical model’ (Germov,

In conclusion, a person must go through a series of step/stages to reach “self-actualization.” They must achieve his/his “safety” and “physiological” needs “(basic needs).” “Esteem” and “belongingness and love” needs “(psychological needs)” to reach the stage of “self-actualization.” Psychological theories helps us better understand why a character does what he/she did. Using the psychological theory can help people reach the stage of self-actualization. Although, some may not reach this stage due to natural or un-natural

The contemporary concept of mental illness is a growing public health concern. Around one in six adults in the UK were suffering from a common mental disorder in 2014 (NHS, 2014). Statistics such as this are discovered by numerous modern studies such as the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (2014) which aim to determine prevalence and pattern with the overall aim of offering guidance to the people suffering from these mental health issues, and the disciplines they are involved in. What little stigma remains surrounding the issue of mental illness, is disappearing as the years go by. However, this was not always the case. The rise and fall of the asylum system demonstrate the shift from confinement to care in the community. The following will be a critical discussion of the impact that this asylum system has had on the contemporary understanding of mental health issues, incorporating the theoretical concept of post-structuralism and its underpinning within this context.

Individual attitudes and values relating to mental illness stem from cultural background which Hungerford et al. (2012, p. 118) illustrates, serves as a filter which one acts, reacts to and interacts with others. Therefore, my attitudes and values relating to mental illness is most inclusive to what I have been exposed to during my tertiary education, which could be problematic if I have not been subjected to an understanding of specific cultural practices, beliefs, concepts and ideas, of a certain community. It is fundamental this is addressed, particularly in circumstances like Justin’s due to the risk of behaving or saying something inappropriate (Mental Health First Aid Australia 2008, p. 2). This lack of cultural understanding could deter

Predominantly, in the West, mental health is described as the lack of a psychiatric illness. Overall, very little science has been completed of “mental health”. Western studies chiefly focus on mental disorders and only by default define mental health.3 Mental illness refers to an array of mental health problems that affect mood, thinking, and, or behavior. Over the course of a person’s life they many experience many mental health concerns, but it does not becomes a mental illness until the symptoms occur frequent enough that they hinder one’s ability to function.7 In Buddhism, what the Mayo Clinic defines as a mental concern would be classified as a mental illness. This discrepancy in translation is important in understanding how the concepts of mental health differ across the

As people go through life gaining growth in different aspects of life whether it would be biological, psychological, personally, or socially. At different points in most people lives may go through different obstacles. These obstacles can go alongside with the different aspects which can make it difficult for someone to live their lives or even change a person. There are experiences, illnesses such as diseases, conditions such as disorders whether it would be schizophrenia, antisocial personality, or other disorders along these spectrums. It is interesting how much someone could change depending on the severity of the disorder. There have been cases throughout history which changed the court system and societies view on mental illnesses. The

The article Self-Determination Theory And Actualization of Human Potential by Edward L. Deci, Richard M. Ryan, and Frederic Guay outlines the self-determination theory and defines for the reader the very concept of self-determination. All humans have the potential for the progression towards honesty and enlightenment, but in order to obtain actualization, essential human needs must be met (Deci et al., 2013). This article disclosed three essential needs: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. The article goes on to describe intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, and how emotional regulation plays a part in self-determination. All humans have the potential to become self-actualizing; but, when a need is not met, or emotions are not properly regulated, unhealthiness ensues.

According to the world heath organisation (2010) “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. When looking at the aspect of health most people will mention characteristics of physical health yet fail to include mental health. Psychological perspectives are the different ways in which psychologists look at individual’s behaviours, thoughts and feelings. Although some of the psychological perspectives are very different while others are similar and seem to overlap, it is important to note that there isn’t simply one correct perspective and that each of the perspectives has their strengths and weaknesses. In this essay I am going to look into the different psychological perspectives and how they offer us an understanding on behaviours that have an influence over our health I will however be primarily be focusing on mental health disorders. Although psychological perspectives may help us get an understanding of behaviours or show us ways that psychological perspective has helped create solutions that may ease symptoms, it wont fully explain them.

For many years psychologist has observed and deliberated over humans and their life’s goals. The three much known psychologists came up with the concepts and they are: Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers and Viktor Frankl alone with many others. These three psychologist had studied and constructed the theory of self-Actualization and the meaning of life. They have agreed that self-actualization represents growth of an individual towards fulfillment of the highest need. Roger’s created the theory implicating, growth potential, by focusing on the, real self and the, ideal self, implying that this come with a full functioning person (Roger, Carl R., 2007) . Maslow, reflects his theory on, free will, and determinism, by giving techniques that separates different individuals (Maslow, Abraham..H.1959) . Frankl, theory is existentialism is one of the major features that present psychotherapy (Frankl, 1967). These psychologists is interested in understanding and helping humans by becoming more hopeful in themselves. By understanding and study of human’s weakness and changing their weakness into strengths and virtue. The reason for psychologist is to fix what broken and finding treatment within ourselves. The help of Rogers, Maslow, and Frankl gives clients advice, techniques to inspire humans, and examples of what is life’s fulfillments.

It is essential to assess human psyche or personality as an identity or the totality of a person, with an approach from Sigmund Freud of psychoanalysis theory, the id, ego and super-ego (McLeod, 2007), which develops at every stages of human’s life, irrespective of age, sex and status. Those three structures motivate a person’s actions, a spontaneous reaction, a voluntary or involuntary action, all these can be termed to what Sigmund